Defense Articles

Paintball guns for sale are numerous and some of the designs can be compared with the gadgets in science fiction movies. Also known as paintball marker, paintball gun is an air gun used in the outdoor game of paintball. Major components included in a paintball gun are hopper, tank, and barrel. A range of paintball guns are now available according to the ability and budget of paintball players, and some of them are electronic, full-auto, pump, pistols, semi-auto, and stock guns.

At present, most of the outlets and manufacturing units in the US carry a complete line of paintball guns for sale. Also, there are numerous websites, providing online shopping facilities for the purchase of new, used, cheap, and high quality paintball guns. The cost of a paintball guns varies according to the brand and model of the product. Sometimes, the price of a paintball will be as cheap as $150 or as high as $800. Usually, paintball guns with high pressure air and nitrogen systems are costly, and those with carbon dioxide pressure system are cheap. The price of a paintball is also affected by additional accessories attached to the product. For example, paintball guns with light weight and fast hoppers are quite expensive.

A used paintball gun is a good option for financially challenged paintball players. It provides players the opportunity to purchase top quality guns for half the price. Used paint balls are generally cost-effective, dependable, and durable.

A variety of cheap paintball guns are also put for sale. Since they are dependable, light weight, and easy to maintain, cheap paintball guns are generally used by beginners. It is always desirable to purchase cheap paintball guns manufactured by leading companies, as most of them offer some kind of warranty. However, cheap paintball guns have certain disadvantages such as limited accuracy and range. Despite its disadvantages, a cheap paintball gun is regarded as a profitable deal. Sometimes, paintball guns are available at discount rates. Further, paintball guns can be acquired at cheap rates, if purchased directly from the manufacturers.

With today’s technology, one can easily find the best rate in making long distance with the use of prepaid calling card. There are lots of prepaid calling cards that come with low rates, good services and high quality connections.

Yes, in using prepaid calling cards, there are lots of advantages that users can have. One of which is to save money. With the use of prepaid calling card, one can cut his/her phone bills in half. With the use of prepaid calling card, you can easily track your call history. You can also purchase the amount that you need.

Prepaid calling card can give one the convenience that he/she wants. Prepaid calling card is a slim and paper-like structure that you can put in any of your pockets, so you can bring it any where you are and you can easily make a call any where and any time. You do not have to bring lots of coins just to make calls, with this very light credit card look alike, you can easily and conveniently make calls.

Actually, prepaid calling cards were developed in replacement with coins due to the shortage of coins way back. Actually this development made was more convenient for us, since we do not need to bring lots of coins in making calls, all you need is to purchase this prepaid calling card , viola, and you can make local or international calls.

If you are first time buyer of prepaid calling card, you have to be careful though since there are heaps of prepaid calling cards out there. These prepaid calling cards come in different features, services and rates. There are no 2 prepaid calling cards that come out the same. So you have to check out the rates, services and features that few prepaid calling cards have in order to find the right one for you, the one that can give you satisfaction.

You need to compare at least few of these prepaid calling cards. t is advisable not to purchase any card without knowing it or gaining the necessary information about the prepaid calling card. Definitely, you do not want to be surprised with the hidden charges midway. So it is wiser to be alert and well-informed, do a little research and find the one that has the rate, services and features that you desire.

There are plenty of websites that offers prepaid calling cards, so you can at least search few of the websites online. It is recommended to check out if the company is reputable and dependable. The company should provide you with the information about the prepaid calling card.

You have to check out if the company has good customer service, that you can easily contact any time you have problem or queries regarding the prepaid calling car that you are using.

Allocate time in finding the right prepaid calling card that has the rate, services and features that you desire. In this way, you can make sure that you will gain satisfaction and convenience in using the prepaid calling card that you purchase.

SMALL ARMS AND MACHINE GUNS

M16A2 5.56MM RIFLE

A 5.56mm magazine-fed, gas-operated weapon, the M16A2 is an upgraded M16A1 rifle that was originally fielded in the late 1960s during the Vietnam War. Improvements to the Al included a heavier barrel, improved sights, rifling twist and hand guards, and a three-round burst-fire selector. The weapon has a maximum effective range of more than 600 yards at point targets, and more than 860 yards at an area target.

The M16A2 has a magazine capacity of 30 rounds. The M16A2 began entering Marine Corps service in 1984 and is fielded to all active and reserve units.

M16A2 SQUAD ADVANCED MARKSMAN (SAM) 5.56MM RIFLE

The SAM is an enhanced M16 rifle with a match-grade barrel, free-floated hand guards and trigger assembly integrated to create a new precision weapon. The flat-top upper receiver allows for the attachment of high-quality optics. SAMs will give the infantry squad sniper rifle capability. SAMs were fielded in 2003 for ongoing evaluation.

M16A4 5.56MM RIFLE

The M16A4 rifle is an improved M16A2 and is part of the Modular Weapon System (MWS). The M16A4 incorporates a military standard M1913 rail adapter system (RAS) that allows for rapid mounting of various accessories such as day/night/thermal optics, infrared laser pointers, flashlights and the M203 grenade launcher. The MWS reduces the number of components required to attach accessories and allows for configuration management at the operator level.

The M16A4 has the same capabilities as the M16A2 except that the rear sight can only be elevated to a maximum sight range of 600 yards, instead of 860 yards, due to a shorter elevating screw required for the detachable rear carry handle. The Marine Corps began fielding the M16A4 in 2003 and expects to complete fielding during 2007.

M4 5.56MM CARBINE

The M4 carbine is a shortened version (16-inch as opposed to 20-inch) of the M16 series of weapons and is also part of the MWS. The M4 is a semi-automatic and select-fire three-round burst weapon. The M4 also incorporates the M1913 RAS and detachable carrying handle. The M4 carbine is being fielded to ground forces and augments the M16A4 as part of the MWS.

M4A1 5.56MM CLOSE-QUARTERS BATTLE WEAPON (CQBW)

The M4A1 is a 5.56mm, selective-fire carbine that accommodates a variety of detachable, mission-oriented accessories, including aiming devices and a sound suppressor. The M4A1 replaced the MP5N in 1998, alleviating the need for Marines assigned to closequarters battle (CQB) missions to carry both the M16A2 and the CQB submachine gun. It enables operators to engage targets at normal small-arms ranges during ingress to and egress from the objective area, and at ranges of 25 meters or less in confined spaces while minimizing the possibility of injury to noncombatants.

M9/M9A1 9MM PISTOL

The Beretta M9 is a 9mm, 15-round, semi-automatic, magazinefed pistol - first issued in 1985 - that has an effective range of 50 meters. The new M9A1 is an improved version that allows for attachment of PAQ-6 laser-aiming device. This new pistol is designed to increase security force, antiterrorism team, military police and force recon unit capability in close-quarter confrontations.

MEU(SOC) .45-CALIBER PISTOL

The MEU(SOC) .45-caliber pistol is a semi-automatic weapon based on the M1911 .45 of a generation past. The MEU(SOC) provides force-reconnaissance Marines involved in direct-action missions a reliable, secondary weapon. This pistol was first fielded in the 1980s. A newer version is under assessment for fielding. Maximum effective range is about 50 yards. This pistol has a capacity of eight rounds, with one round loaded in the chamber.

M14 DESIGNATED MARKSMAN RIFLE (DMR)

The DMR is a modified, precision-grade M14 7.62mm rifle. Each DMR is custom built at Precision Weapons sections, Weapons Training Battalion, Quantico, Va. Its accuracy and lethality provide units greater operational flexibility and survivability during day operations. It has an effective range of 770 meters. Marine Corps military police special reaction teams and fleet antiterrorism support teams use the DMR for antiterrorism and security missions. Explosive ordnance disposal teams also use the DMR for their standoff munitions disposal mission.

M4OA3 7.62MM SNIPER RIFLE

The M40A3 is a Marine Corps-designed, bolt-action, 7.62mm sniper rifle first fielded in 2001. Each M40A3 is custom built at Precision Weapons Section, Weapons Training Battalion, Quantico, Va. The mounting rail allows for attachment of day or night optics. The M40A3 has an effective range of 1,000 yards.

M82A3 .5O-CALIBER SPECIAL APPLICATION SCOPED RIFLE (SASR)

The SASR is a commercial-off-the-shelf .50-caliber sniper rifle built by Barren Industries. The weapon is effective against antimateriel targets at ranges up to 2,000 yards. The Marine Corps first fielded the M82A1 in 1989. The current A3 configuration incorporates safety and reliability improvements to extend the service life. The Army currently fields the M107 that is essentially the same rifle. The Marine Corps will convert the M82A3 to the M107 to achieve long-term maintenance support goals.

Paul: In videogames, terrorism is the new kidnapping. Used to be, when game developers needed to whip up an antagonist in a hurry, they just had a couple of beefy thugs sucker-punch the main character’s girlfriend and carry her away. These days, they have some militia-like organization try to blow stuff up. Syphon Filter doesn’t dress up the clich?—the game is full of bombs to disarm and villains with silly accents to shoot, and that’s just fine. Straightforward run-and-gun action gets the blood pumping.

…Until you have to stop to check the map, which is all the time. That’s a problem, because looking at the map doesn’t suspend the action. Bad guys will shoot you dead while you figure out whether your objective is on the second floor or the third. (Poor sportsmanship!) As irritating as that is, it’s manageable; just be sure you’ve killed all the enemies in the area before you plan a route to the next goal.

But what’s with all the busywork? Every level has at least one painfully repetitive tacked-on objective. Set five C4 charges. Collect six data samples. On one mission you’re asked to lock the four entrances of a terrorist-held building so that the local police don’t wander inside and get killed. Is that a job for a supersecret agent? The game would have been stronger without so much pointless padding. Thankfully, once you’ve accomplished any part of an objective, it stays done even if you die.

In fact, dying is hardly a setback in Omega Strain. Kicking the bucket hurts your score (which unlocks optional levels and better weaponry), but it doesn’t slow your progress through the story. It’s a pretty clever setup, actually. Casual gamers can blast through this adventure in a weekend, while more serious players will want to hone their skills and improve their score in order to see everything the game has to offer.

Shawn: Omega Strain displays all the initial symptoms of a smart shoot-em-up but degenerates into a low-fever game of good guy/bad guy. After lying dormant for years, the series should show visible signs of improvement, and in that respect, Strain doesn’t disappoint. Around the world in 17 scenic and exciting missions, you’ll visit (and violate) the palaces of tin-pot generalissimos, slip through dusty Middle Eastern marketplaces in disguise, and duel snipers in Russian snowfields. A few too many missions ask you to play errand boy—plant explosives here, and here, and, oh yeah, over here too—but you’ll have some say over your itinerary and can see the story through even after scrapping several of the less interesting objectives.

It’s the controls, however, that’ll get under your skin. Auto-lock is so useless that enemies will ask for seconds even when it looks like you’re force-feeding ’em whole magazines. The rest works, just not very well. For instance, Strain maps aiming and movement to the same analog stick, so you can’t shoot accurately without stopping to bring up your scope. Splitting up your duties with three other germ warriors in co-op quadruples the strategy and takes the sting out of backtracking, but sickly controls still contaminate the online experience.

Shoe: This game feels so piecemeal, and I mean that in the most unflattering way possible. I imagine part of the development process went something like this:

“Hey, how come some of the levels are full of extra paths and real estate that don’t necessarily make sense?”

“We had extra memory.”

“What about controls? We do have this archaic control scheme leftover from pre-dual-analog-stick days….”

“Done and done.”

“Oh crap, we ran out of buttons on the controller. How will the players change weapons? Ooh! Light-bulb moment! How about the weapon-select on…the Select button! But that would be very awkward for players. Plus, if they run out of ammo and have to switch weapons in the middle of a firefight, they’ll have to let go of the analog stick and become immobile—a total sitting duck.”

“Hey, then God shouldn’t have named that button ‘Select.’ Do it…do it.”

I abuse because I care. The Omega Strain had so much potential, with a great rewards system that gives you lots of stuff to unlock and four-player cooperative online play (which, by the way, gives us yet another button that creates a sitting-duck situation: Up on the D-pad to voice chat, so forget about talking to your human teammates while the action’s hot). But sloppy game design and cumbersome controls filter out almost all of the fun.

Like taking down targets with a shot to the head? Or is hosing the place down with hot lead while screaming “Get some!” more your style? Depending on your strategy, Syphon Filter rewards you with different gear and guns. Sharpshooting, for instance, will earn sniper rifles, whereas playing the wild man is more likely to get you submachine guns.

Lease don’t hate us—we recently got to play multiplayer Halo 2. If it helps any, we can tell you that the game is damn good and that your long wait until its November 9 release will be well worth suffering through. We played one mode (one-sided capture the flag) on one map (Zanzibar, an African beach) for hours, and we would’ve kept on going if we weren’t told to leave by the people working the demo. Jerkstores.

We learned a few interesting things along the way, which we’re passing along to you here. Bottom line: It’s really just “more and better Halo” rather than anything revolutionary, but heck, that’s fine by us.

If this li’l guy (6) can make it to the upstairs control panel, he can open up the main gate (7) to make it much easier for his invading teammates to get in and out of this base. These barrels (8) can be blown up, too. OK, so not everything’s so innovative….

Here’s what the outside looks like with that gate open (9). Other interactive bits include these shutters (10), which defenders can close but still poke through for a protective vantage point. (11) A crushed johnson is not an honorable way to die.

We know: Halo 2 will support at least 16 players (1), including combinations of four teams of four or even eight teams of two.

We wonder: How eight-team (not player, but team) capture the flag could work. Bungie is actually working on this—trying to make every mode work with every possible combination of players and teams, including capture the flag for eight groups at once.

We know: That’s a rocket launcher mounted on the back of this Warthog jeep (2), not a machine gun like in the last game. We also know it’s a lot more fun to blow stuff up than to put a bunch of bullets in said stuff.

We were told: Enemy players may be able to pull you off of this turret to use it for themselves. This should lead to some interesting road-rage moments when players work out who gets to use this ride. Remember, a Warthog has room for three: driver, passenger, and gunner.

We know: You can play as the alien Covenant or the human Spartans, the badass space marine unit of which tough-guy protagonist Master Chief is a member. You can also jump higher than in the first game (3). It feels too floaty at first, but we quickly got used to it.

We’re not sure: If Covenant players will have different physical characteristics (jumping height, speed, etc.) than Spartans. We asked three different people working on the game—and got three totally different responses. Guess we’ll have to wait and see. But we did get a hint that the Covenant may be playable in the single-player campaign mode! When we pushed for more details, one product manager would only smile and say, “Bungie has a lot of tricks up its sleeve for Halo 2.”

We know: Like in the Quake series, some of the more powerful power-ups will be just out of reach. Past the hub of this giant windmill (4) is an Energy Sword. To get to it, you’ll have to find and destroy a metal pin to lower a bridge to this spot, then climb through a small opening.

We also know: The sword is one helluva weapon. It’s worth the effort to get it, but it takes valuable seconds away during the timed capture the flag matches.

We know: You can hold two one-handed guns at the same time (5), which is called “dual-wielding.” You lose the ability to throw grenades, but you can always drop a gun if you have to. You can double up the firepower with two submachine guns (one of the new weapons in Halo 2) or try a smart combo, like a needler pistol for long-range tracking and an SMG for short-range business. By the way, the new assault rifle has a scope now.

“Dual-wielding”? Sure, it doesn’t roll off your tongue, but as associate editor Shawn Elliott says, “Better than calling it ‘double-fisting.’”

These Ghosts (12) can now boost for superspeed, but you sacrifice lasers and mobility when doing so. Vehicles also take location-specific damage (13), which can affect handling. If the driver’s going slow enough, try hopping on and kicking them off (14).

Bungie calls ’em “the ultimate son-of-a-bitch stick.” (15) OK, we’ll call them that, too. You can wield these Energy Swords for one-hit kills if you get close enough to lock on. Also, check out the logo on the personalized armor (16)

The Japan Coast Guard on Friday retrieved a radar antenna and a submachine gun from the East China Sea where a suspected North Korean spy ship sank last December, coast guard officials said.

The coast guard said it made the discovery after it searched the site where the vessel sank and found new items such as a support pillar for the radar antenna that was attached to the iron ceiling of the ship’s bridge.

The ship sank about 390 kilometers off the southwestern Japan island of Amami-Oshima after a skirmish with coast guard patrol vessels on Dec. 22 last year. It was salvaged on Wednesday.

Sources familiar with the search operation said the radar antenna is believed to have been manufactured in Japan. In 1998, a North Korean submarine that sank in South Korean waters was equipped with a Japan-made radar.

Friday’s search led to the discovery of about 20 items including a submachine gun that has a bigger bore than two automatic rifles found earlier and can shoot for a long period of time, the coast guard said.

Six kinds of weapon have been found on the ship so far, including antiaircraft missile launchers and antitank rocket guns.

If all goes well, the ship will reach Kagoshima Bay in southwestern Japan on Saturday morning, the coast guard said.

Tokyo claims the mystery ship was a North Korean vessel apparently involved in espionage or drug-running. North Korea has denied the allegations.

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2002 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Security officers at Singapore’s international airport reportedly seized a submachine gun and five clips with ammunition from a bodyguard.

The bodyguard - travelling with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s son - was found to be carrying the gun and ammunition during a routine check. A pistol, a revolver and a knife were also recovered. The man was preparing to board a flight to Bangkok, Thailand on 25 May.

Two additional bodyguards were found to be carrying guns at Bangkok’s international airport, also on 25 May, reported The Associated Press.

Evening in Erbil, Kurdistan, what passes for an oasis of peace in Iraq. It’s March 2006, and I’m waiting for a ride down to Baghdad along one of the world’s most dangerous roads, a six-hour drive through the Sunni Triangle. A few years ago, I would have taken a taxi, but now the insurgents run roadblocks looking for targets-soldiers, contractors, journalists. I can’t rely on the Iraqi police, who are as likely to turn me over to insurgents for money as to be insurgents themselves. And then there are the improvised explosive devices, hidden in rubbish, wreckage, dead goats. I had a close encounter in 2003, when I rode with a convoy of trucks ferrying mail and supplies through the Sunni Triangle to U.S. Army bases. An IED detonated a second too early, exploding just in front of us rather than beneath us. We drove through the cloud of shrapnel, dust, and smoke before I had a chance to get scared. This time, though, I have a long trip south to consider all the possible dangers.

The only way to avoid being seized by one of the many militias that terrorize Iraq is to travel with your own militia, and so the documentary film director I am working for has paid $7,000 to a private security company to take us to Baghdad. Our convoy of four armored Ford F-350 pickup trucks, each containing four or five men apiece, is commanded by two American security contractors whose call signs are Steeler and Pirate (for security reasons, several contractors in this piece asked that I not identify them or their companies). Steeler is a taut guy from Pennsylvania; a former Army Ranger, he served in Iraq with the National Guard and then returned for a salary several times higher. He will take the lead vehicle, eyeing the road for potential threats, a task suited to his taciturn nature. Pirate is the convoy commander. A burly, bearded former Green Beret, he has worked as a private security contractor in Haiti and Africa. I ride in his truck, its window bearing evidence of a recent attack near western Baghdad’s Spaghetti Junction, where heavy-caliber machine-gun fire spiderwebbed the bulletproof glass. On the bed at the back of each truck, reinforced “up-armored” housings hold rear gunners and their belt-fed Russian machine guns. Our gunners are all Kurds. The insurgents are mostly Arabs, and the company Pirate and Steeler work for believes Kurds are less likely to be infiltrated, plus Kurds have a long tradition of guerrilla fighting against heavy odds.

As the sun sets on the dusty compound, I watch the men clean their weapons and piece them back together. They check the engines one last time, top off gas and oil, confirm they have enough water and candy bars. Steeler and Pirate test their transponders, hooked up to a satellite network called Tapestry that tracks private security vehicles in Iraq. Ever since the deadly confusion that occurred in 2004 when Blackwater U.S.A. private security agents were ambushed, killed, and hung from a bridge in Fallujah, the U.S. government requires private security vehicles to carry transponders, and contractors comply in part because it lowers their insurance rates. Drivers who are attacked hit a panic button, and Tapestry transmits an SOS to every military ops center in Iraq, the security company’s ops center, and the Reconstruction Operations Center (ROC) that coordinates the private/ military response. Inside Baghdad’s Green Zone, in a room not unlike NaSA’s mission control, ROC staff monitor screens 24 hours a day as panic alarms ring throughout the country. Run by a mix of military officers and contractors, ROC falls under the control of the Iraq Project and Contracting Office, which is an office of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. It is part of the elaborate contractor exoskeleton that has superimposed itself on Iraq, a parallel invasion.

There are more than 125,000 U.S.-funded contractors in Iraq, doing everything from maintaining supply lines to building hospitals to performing clerical work to guarding U.S. officials; this equates to about two-thirds the number of U.S. military personnel in Iraq, and does not include all subcontractors. Some contractors have only a few employees in country, while the largest–KBR, which is being spun off from Halliburton–has 50,000 workers there. The surge reflects the administration’s privatization philosophy, former Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney’s influence–and just how thinly stretched the military now is in Iraq. All those nonmilitary personnel need guarding, and as of November, at least 177 private security companies employed 48,000 people in Iraq. The State Department reports that security costs account for 16 to 22 percent of reconstruction projects-a considerable part of the overruns plaguing such contracts; so far $4 billion in U.S. tax dollars has been spent on private security contractors. Despite these efforts, more than 800 contractors of all nationalities have been killed and 3,300 injured; 119 American contractors (95 of them KBR employees) have been awarded the Defense of Freedom medal, described as “the civilian equivalent of the military’s Purple Heart.”

U.S. Guns of World War II is one of the more comprehensive overviews of the small arms employed by the United States in that war. One of the book’s key attributes is its thoroughness. The odd test dries leading to the adoption of the Garand are and well described. Dittoes for the M1 Carbine and other revolvers and submachine guns deployed. The book is profusely illustrated with period photos, too, showing the guns in use by our troops.

The book has really only one failing: the picture reproduction. The book is printed on uncoated stock and clarity suffers because of it. Some of the photos are small and somewhat fuzzy, making it hard to follow the transitions between models. Occasionally, a detail mentioned by the author is hard to discern because of this. The good news is the text is clear and concise and well documents the who, what and where these American guns were used.

There are some of the oddities WWII such as the Liberator pistol and the suppressed High Standard Military HD models along with a plethora of little seen subgun models such as the Star, Atmed, Hyde, Woodhull and others tested and rejected by the Army. Many pictures show the Thompson and Reising in use by troops.

Despite the few detractions mentioned, the book s cover price of $17.95 well justifies its purchase for the WWII small arms enthusiast.

U.S. Guns of World War II, Paperback, $17.95, 8 1/2″ x 11″, 144 pages, profusely illustrated with b&w photos, ISBN 1-57747105-9, Thomas Publications, P.O. Box 3031, Gettysburg, PA 17325, (717) 642-6600, www.thomaspublications.com.

As the role of the military has changed, so have the guns used in battle.

The 20th century quickly established itself as a period of huge changes in military small arms as compared to advances made in the 19th century. Smokeless powder and self-loading mechanisms came into their own as the 19th century waned, setting the stage for further growth in the 20th century.

In the field of military handguns, the beginning of the 20th century was dominated by revolvers. At the end of the century however, revolvers are virtually gone from military use.

Arguably the first significant military handgun advancement of the century was the development of the 9mm Luger cartridge circa 1902. Originally only available in the Luger pistol, this cartridge is now the dominant pistol and submachine cartridge of most of the world’s militaries.

The only major exceptions are Russia, some of her former republics, and China, which use the 9mm Makarov cartridge, and a few countries like the Philippines that cling to the .45 ACP. Most former Iron Curtain nations however, are currently in the process of switching to the 9mm cartridge for handguns.

Great Fighting Handguns

The Luger pistol’s claim to fame was the fathering of the 9mm parabellum cartridge. As a military pistol it was actually obsolete by World War I, mainly because of its poor ergonomics and susceptibility to failure under adverse conditions. The pistol that rendered it obsolete was the seemingly immortal U.S. M1911 .45 ACP.

Nearly 90 years later at the close of the century, minor variations of the M1911 pistol are still the used by the elite U.S. Army Operational Detachment Delta and U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit Special Operations Capable. In our modern world what other machines from 1911 are still considered the best in their field in 1999?

The other most significant handguns of the century were: the Browning Hi-Power, which introduced the high capacity magazine; the German Walther P38 9mm, which introduced the double action trigger; the Beretta Model 92 9mm, which introduced the combination of the double action trigger and a high capacity magazine (the S&W 59 came first by a small margin but was never accepted by the military); and the Glock G17, which successfully introduced polymer frame construction and a particularly effective type of DAO trigger mechanism.

From Sub-Gun To Assault Rifle

The submachine gun first saw limited use in World War I but its major military application was in World War II where it was used in huge numbers. The development and refinement of the assault rifle in World War II spelled doom for the SMG.

Now, as the century closes the SMG has only the most minor of roles in the world’s militaries with short assault rifles largely taking its place. When the SMG is used at all it is primarily in special operations and then often in the suppressed mode.

The SMG has progressed through several generations of development over the century. The first generation SMGs were made of machined steel prior to World War II; the most significant include the German MP28 9mm, the Finnish 9mm Soumi, the Italian Beretta M38 9mm, and the American Thompson .45 in its various models.

The second generation SMGs first produced during World War II featured designs that could be made more efficiently and cheaply, primarily by using stampings. The most significant are the German MP4O 9mm, the British 9mm Stens, the Russian PPSh 41 7.62×25mm, and the post-World War II British Sterling.

The third generation SMGs are post-World War II and feature such things as telescoping bolts, extremely short construction, closed bolt operation, aluminum or polymer construction, and other refinements. The most significant examples are the Israeli Uzi, the H&K MP5 and the Beretta M12.

Farewell To The Bolt Action

At the turn of the century virtually all of the world’s militaries were armed with bolt action rifles chambered for powerful small bore (6.5mm to 8mm) cartridges that fired jacketed bullets with smokeless powder. These rifles remained the primary individual infantry armament through World War II, with the sole exception of the U.S. where the semiautomatic M1 Garand was the primary rifle. Bolt action rifles currently remain in military service only in the form of sniper rifles.

While semiauto rifles made an appearance in World War I, they got their major acceptance during World War II with the Soviet M1940 Tokarev, the American M1 Garand, the Swedish Ag42 Ljungmann and the German G43 and K43 rifles.

The M1 Garand, in particular, established without a doubt the superiority of the semiautomatic rifle over the bolt action in combat. American squads with M1 Garands repeatedly proved that they could take on enemy platoons armed with bolt action rifles and still prevail.

Post-World War II production of refined semiautomatic battle rifles led to the Belgian FN SAFN M1949, the French MAS 49 and 49/56, the Belgian FN FAL, the Swiss SIG 510 series, the U.S. M14, the Italian Beretta BM59 and the German G-3. All were and are quite excellent.